ai4bharat/Pralekha huggingface dataset:
Ministry of Education
Union Education Minister, Shri Ramesh Pokhriyal 'Nishank' virtually inaugurated the DST-IIEST Solar PV Hub at IIEST, Shibpur
Union Education Minister, Shri Ramesh Pokhriyal 'Nishank' virtually inaugurated the DST-IIEST Solar PV Hub at IIEST, Shibpur today. Prof. Ashutosh Sharma, Secretary, Department of Science and Technology, Ministry of Science and Technology, Government of India, Prof. Dr. Parthasarathi Chakrabarti, Director, IIEST, Shibpur; Dr. Vasudev K Aatre, Chairperson, Board of Governors, IIEST, Shibpur; Shri Gyanesh Chaudhary, Managing Director and Vikram Solar Limited, Vikram Group, India attended the event.
Speaking on the occasion the Minister said that DST-IIEST Solar PV Hub, one of its kind in India, has been established at IIEST, Shibpur through a generous Research and Development grant from the Department of Science and Technology , Govt of India, under the aegis of Centre of Excellence for Green Energy and Sensor System at IIEST, Shibpur. He informed that in 2018, to encourage and support the cutting edge research by IIEST, Shibpur in the field of Solar Energy and Solar Cells, the DST has endowed the Institute with new Grants to create a central Hub with the name of “DST-IIEST Solar PV Hub”, which will have the world class research facilities and will act as the central node for research and developments, and dissemination of knowledge in the field of solar energy, solar photovoltaics, including fabrication, characterization and testing of solar cells, solar PV Modules and also Solar PV systems, for the entire Eastern and North-Eastern region of India.
This Hub will help in aligning the national as well as local industries, research institutes, and start-ups with the ”Make in India Mission” towards a smooth transition from fossil fuel energy to solar energy scenario, he added.
The Minister highlighted that a number of industries and research organizations in Eastern and North-Eastern regions of India which are engaged in solar energy activities are likely to be greatly benefitted from this Research Unit. Direct interactions with this DST-IIEST Solar Hub will enable the transfer of indigenous knowhow and training for the fabrication, characterization and testing of solar cells and solar PV modules and systems as no such facility is available elsewhere in this region, he added.
He said that the students and research fellows of higher education institutes of West Bengal and the entire Eastern and North eastern Region will get hands on experience in this Solar Hub .Well designed training programs offered by the Hub will also be an impetus to the Skill India Mission of the Government of India, he added. These training modules will be arranged to generate and strengthen the knowledge in the field of solar energy and solar photovoltaics so that in future they can contribute to indigenous development and usage of solar energy in India, he said.
Ministry of Commerce & Industry
Regulation of Online Retailers
Considering the potential of e-Commerce, Government of India plans to encourage it to contribute towards India’s proposed USD 1 trillion digital economy. However, e-Commerce companies having foreign investment can operate only a marketplace model and there are restrictions on the inventory based model of e-Commerce. In order to clarify the same, Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade , vide Press Note 3 of 2016, issued guidelines for FDI in e-Commerce on 29 March 2016. However, allegations were made against e-Commerce companies that the marketplaces were violating the norms laid down in Press Note 3 of 2016.
With a view to clarify the already existing policy framework, Press Note 2 of 2018 was issued by DPIIT on 26 December 2018 to provide further clarification on FDI Policy in relation to e-Commerce companies. Through the latest Press Note 2 of 2018, Government has reiterated the policy provisions to ensure better implementation of the policy in letter and spirit.
Further, Clause  of Press Note 2 of 2018, stipulates that e-commerce entities providing marketplace will not directly or indirectly influence the sale price of goods or services and shall maintain level playing field. Services should be provided by e-commerce marketplace entity or other entities in which e-commerce marketplace entity has direct or indirect equity participation or common control, to vendors on the platform at arm's length and in a fair and non-discriminatory manner. Such services will include but not limited to fulfilment, logistics, warehousing, advertisement/ marketing, payments and financing. Cash back provided by group companies of marketplace entity to buyers shall be fair and non-discriminatory. For the purposes of this clause, provision of services to any vendor on such terms which are not made available to other vendors in similar circumstances will be deemed unfair and discriminatory. Further, if any violation is reported necessary action may be taken by the competent authority.
Representations have been received in DPIIT alleging that some e-commerce platforms are engaged in predatory pricing and are providing excessive discounts. The extant Foreign Direct Investment  policy on e-commerce sector, inter-alia, specifies that e-commerce marketplaces will not directly or indirectly influence the sale price of goods or services and shall maintain a level playing field. These representations are under examination.
However it is reported that the Competition Commission of India  has recently ordered investigation against FlipKart Internet Pvt. Ltd. and Amazon Seller Services Pvt. Ltd. in order to determine whether the alleged exclusive arrangements, deep-discounting and preferential listing are being used as an exclusionary tactic to foreclose competition under section 26 of Competition Act, 2002 vide Order 40 of 2019 dated 13.01.2020.
This information was given by the Minister of Commerce and Industry, Piyush Goyal, in a written reply in the Lok Sabha today.
Election Commission
Control room at ECI
A 24 hour EVM Control Room has been made functional at Nirvachan Sadan to monitor complaints relating to polled EVMs. The complaints related to storage issues at strongrooms, security of strongrooms, permissions to candidates to post their agents at strongrooms, cctv monitoring, movement of any EVMs, and any complaints during counting related to EVMs can be informed at control room number is 011-23052123 .
President's Secretariat
President of India to Present President’s Colour to The Indian Naval Academy on November 20
The President of India, Shri Ram Nath Kovind, will visit Kerala on November 19 and 20, 2019. On November 20, 2019, he will present the President’s Colour to the Indian Naval Academy at Ezhimala.
Ministry of Road Transport & Highways
Shri Nitin Gadkari inaugurates Construction of 4-lane elevated structure flyover at Ahmednagar, Maharashtra on National Highway-61 worth Rs.331.17 crore
Accelerating the development of Ahmednagar city by building modern infrastructure, Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Shri Nitin Gadkari today inaugurated the construction of 3.8 km long 4-lane elevated structure flyover at Ahmednagar,Maharashtra on National Highway-61 at a cost of Rs.331.17 crore .
This flyover will separate local traffic and national highway traffic, which will solve the problem of traffic congestion in the city and help reduce the number of accidents. Travel will be safer and save time and fuel, which will help reduce pollution in Ahmednagar city.
Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports
Col Rathore urges British Sports Secretary to ensure Shooting remains a part of 2022 Commonwealth Games
Minister of Youth Affairs & Sports Col. Rajyavardhan Rathore has urged the secretary of state for digital, culture, media and sport of United Kingdom MP Matt Hancock for his immediate intervention to ensure that Shooting remains part of the 2022 edition of the Commonwealth Games . The issue was raised when the Visiting dignitary met Col. Rathore here today. During their half an hour meeting both sides discussed Cooperation in Sports to further strengthen the relations in the area.
Col Rathore briefed the British Minister about steps being taken for promotion of Sports in the country and elaborated on Khelo India Scheme. He said the scheme has been envisaged to tap talent at a very young age and train it further in a time bound manner with proper financial support from the government.
He invited British players and their coaches to visit India and take advantage of seasonal variations in both the countries for uninterrupted sporting activities. He also urged to explore the possibility of a tie up between sports development programme of both the countries.
The British Minister is in India to promote the upcoming cricket World Cup and 2022 Commonwealth Games.
Prime Minister's Office
PM greets Sikh community on the commencement of Nanakshahi Sammat 555
The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi has greeted Sikh community around the world on the commencement of Nanakshahi Sammat 555.
The Prime Minister tweeted;
“As Nanakshahi Sammat 555 commences, greetings to the Sikh community around the world. May the coming year be filled with happiness, wonderful health and prosperity.”
Ministry of Finance
Approval of framework for consolidation of Public Sector Banks
An Alternative Mechanism for consolidation of the Public Sector Banks  has been constituted under the Chairmanship of the Union Minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs, Shri Arun Jaitley. The composition of the Alternative Mechanism will be as under:
Chairperson: Shri Arun Jaitley, Minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs.
Member : Shri Piyush Goyal, Minister of Railways and Coal.
Member : Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman, Minister of Defence.
The proposals received from banks for in-principle approval to formulate schemes of amalgamation will be placed before the Alternative Mechanism. A Report on the proposals cleared by Alternative Mechanism will be sent to the Cabinet every three months.
Alternative Mechanism may also direct banks to examine proposals for amalgamation.
Alternative Mechanism will receive inputs from Reserve Bank of India  before according in-principle approval.
Alternative Mechanism shall devise its own procedure for appraisal of amalgamation proposals by banks, and be guided overall by the objectives of the Nationalisation Acts {Banking Companies  Acts, 1970 and 1980}.
The Final Schemes formulated will be approved by the Central Government, and laid in both the Houses of Parliament.
Alternative Mechanism will be serviced by the Department of Financial Services for this purpose.
Ministry of Defence
DRDO successfully flight-tests state-of-the-art Quick Reaction Surface-to-Air Missiles against live aerial targets from ITR, Chandipur
Defence Research Development Organisation  today successfully flight-tested its state-of-the-art Quick Reaction Surface-to-Air Missiles  against live aerial targets from Integrated Test Range , Chandipur.
Two missiles, developed by DRDO, were tested against two live targets meeting complete mission objectives of engaging the targets. QRSAM, with many state of the art technologies, engaged the targets at different ranges and altitudes.
The systems have been tested in final configuration with RADAR mounted on a vehicle & missiles on the launcher.
The systems are equipped with indigenously-developed Phased array radar, Inertial Navigation System, Data Link & RF seeker.
The entire mission was captured by various Electro Optical Tracking Systems, Radar Systems and Telemetry Systems.
The system is being developed for Indian Army with search and track on move capability with very short reaction time.
Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh has congratulated DRDO and Industries on achieving the significant milestone.
Ministry of Labour & Employment
Revision of Minimum Wages
Section 3  of the Minimum Wages Act, 1948 mandates the Central Government and the State Governments to review the minimum rates of wages so fixed in the Scheduled employments in their respective jurisdiction at intervals not exceeding five years and revise the minimum rates, if necessary. The minimum rates of wages in the Scheduled employments in the Central sphere were revised in 2017. Further, in order to take care of the rising prices, the Central Government revises the Variable Dearness Allowance  on basic rates of minimum wages every six months effective from 1st April and 1st October every year on the basis of Consumer Price Index for Industrial workers. V.D.A. was last revised w.e.f. 01.10.2021. A statement showing increase in the rates of wages since revision in 2017 on account of increasing V.D.A payable to the employees engaged in the scheduled employments in the Central Sphere is at Annexure.
The Government is not only committed to periodic review and revision of the minimum rates of wages but also to extend its coverage across employments and provide for floor wage. Accordingly, the provisions of the Minimum Wages Act, 1948, have been rationalized and amalgamated in the Code on Wages Act, 2019, as passed by the Parliament and notified on 08.08.2019. The Code on Wages, 2019, provides for universal minimum wage and floor wage across employments in organized and unorganized sector and the existing provision, under the Minimum Wages Act, 1948 to restrict applicability of minimum wages to Scheduled employments, has been dispensed with under the Code. The Code mandates the Central Government to fix floor wage applicable across the Central and the State sphere. The Code stipulates that the minimum rates of wages fixed by the appropriate Government shall not be less than the floor wage. The said provisions of the Code on Wages, 2019, have not come into force.
This information was given by Shri Rameswar Teli, Minister of State, Ministry of Labour & Employment in Rajya Sabha today.
Ministry of Finance
New, Taxpayer-friendly e-filing Portal of the Income Tax Department To Be Launched on 7th June, 2021
Several New Features Introduced
Free of Cost ITR Preparation Interactive Software Also Available
New Call Centre For Taxpayer Assistance
The Income Tax Department is launching its new e-filing portal www.incometax.gov.in on 7th June, 2021. The new e-filing portal is aimed at providing taxpayer convenience and a modern, seamless experience to taxpayers. Some of the highlights of the new portal are detailed hereunder:
- New taxpayer friendly portal integrated with immediate processing of Income Tax Returns  to issue quick refunds to taxpayers;
- All interactions and uploads or pending actions will be displayed on a single dashboard for follow-up action by taxpayer;
- Free of cost ITR preparation software available with interactive questions to help taxpayers for ITRs 1, 4  and ITR 2  to begin with; Facility for preparation of ITRs 3, 5, 6, 7 will be made available shortly;
- Taxpayers will be able to proactively update their profile to provide certain details of income including salary, house property, business/profession which will be used in pre-filling their ITR. Detailed enablement of pre-filling with salary income, interest, dividend and capital gains will be available after TDS and SFT statements are uploaded ;
- New call center for taxpayer assistance for promt response to taxpayer queries. Detailed FAQs, User Manuals, Videos and chatbot/live agent also provided;
- Functionalities for filing Income Tax Forms, Add tax professionals, Submit responses to Notices in Faceless Scrutiny or Appeals would be available.
It is clarified that the new tax payment system will be launched on June 18th, 2021 after the advance tax instalment date to avoid any taxpayer inconvenience.The mobile app will also be released subsequent to the initial launch of the portal, to enable taxpayers to get familiar with the various features. Familiarization with the new system may take some time, so, the Department requests the patience of all taxpayers/stakeholders for the initial period after the launch of the new portal and while other functionalities get released since this is a major transition. This is another initiative by CBDT towards providing ease of compliance to its taxpayers and other stakeholders.
Ministry of Development of North-East Region
CM Tripura Shri Biplab Kumar Deb calls on DoNER Minister Dr Jitendra Singh
Various issues related to development projects in the state discussed
The Chief Minister of Tripura, Shri Biplab Kumar Deb called on Union Minister of State  Development of North Eastern Region , MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh here today and discussed a wide range of issues related to the development projects and Civil Services in the State.
Dr Jitendra Singh informed Shri Biplab Kumar Deb about the progress of the construction of rail-track for the first-ever train to Bangladesh which will take off from the State capital of Agartala. He also brought to the notice of the Chief Minister that the Department of Space had set up its first-ever Research and Study Centre at Northeast in the campus of NIT Agartala.
The Chief Minister handed over to the DoNER Minister a list of infrastructure projects, mainly concerning roads and buildings, for which he sought assistance from the Ministry of DoNER and the North Eastern Council . The DoNER Minister said that the Modi Government has always been liberal in providing every kind of assistance to the North Eastern States and issued instructions for holding a meeting between the officials of the State Government of Tripura and the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region to look into the proposals submitted by the State.
During the meeting, the Chief Minister of Tripura also brought to the notice of Dr Jitendra Singh some of the service-related matters pertaining to the State and placement of certain Civil Services officers in the State. Dr Jitendra Singh responded saying that the DoPT will try to accommodate the State government's requests as far as possible.
Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports
Swami Vivekanand’s teachings have a major role to play in building a better and prosperous New India
Webinar on ‘Swami Vivekananda: The Guiding Spirit for New India’ organized by PIB and ROB Bhubaneswar in association with NYKS Odisha
Swami Vivekananda’s teachings have a major role to play in building a better and prosperous New India, opined experts at the webinar on “Swami Vivekananda: The Guiding Spirit for New India” organized by Press Information Bureau  and Regional Outreach Bureau  Bhubaneswar in association with Nehru Yuva Kendra Sangathan  Odisha region on the eve of National Youth Day-2022.
Participating in the webinar, Shri Akhil Kumar Mishra, Additional Director General, ROB Bhubaneswar shed light on three important teachings of Swami Vivekananda that is believing in self, following heart not mind and to neither seek nor avoid, accept things as it comes.
Eminent writer and spiritual thinker, Shri Bishnu Prasad Nanda talked about the lives and teachings of Swami Vivekananda and said that Swamiji has set a bridge between India and other countries of the western world. “Swamiji takes the message of Sanatan Dharma to the world and always stood for the rights of the downtrodden,” he said. Shri Nanda said that Swamiji propagated the message of universal brotherhood across the globe.
Veteran journalist, Shri Guru Kalyan Mohapatra highlighted how Swamiji’s ways and policies can contribute in the making of a prosperous New India. “Swamiji’s teachings have relevance for ages. It was relevant then; it is relevant now. If we follow the ways and policies of Swamiji, we will be able to build a New India,” he said.
Shri Mohapatra thanked Government of India for coming up with policies focusing on development of youth. “The government under the leadership of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi is coming up with new programmes and schemes for the youths, who are future of the Nation. The government is rightly following the principles of Swami Vivekananda,” asserted Shri Mohapatra.
The officials of all media units of the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting in the state along with officials and youth members of Nehru Yuva Kendra Sangathan from various districts participated in the webinar.
SM/SSP
Ministry of Power
NHPC’s earns highest ever profit of Rs 3233 Crore during FY 2020-21
NHPC Limited, India’s premier hydropower company and a ‘Mini Ratna’ Category-I Enterprise under Ministry of Power has declared its Audited Financial Results for the Financial Year 2020-21. The Board of Directors approved the Audited Financial Results for FY 20-21 in the e-meeting held yesterday.
NHPC has reported highest ever net profit after tax of Rs 3233.37 Crore on standalone basis in the FY 2020-21 compared to Rs 3007.17 Crore for the last fiscal year. Revenue from operation for the FY 2020-21 stood at Rs 8506.58 crore compared to Rs 8735.15 crore in the last fiscal year. Consolidated net profit for 2020-21 stood at Rs 3582.13 crore, compared to Rs 3,344.91 crore in 2019-20. The total income of the group in 2020-21 was Rs 10,705.04 crore as against Rs 10,776.64 crore in 2019-20.
Despite ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, NHPC Power Stations achieved generation of 24471 Million Units  in FY 2020-21.
The Board of Directors have also recommended final dividend of Rs 0.35/- per share for Financial Year 2020-21 in addition to interim dividend of Rs 1.25/- per share already paid by the Company in March 2021. The total dividend payout for FY 20-21 is Rs 1607.21 crore as compared to total dividend payout of Rs 1506.76 crore for FY 19-20. NHPC, today has about seven lakh shareholders. Shri A.K. Singh, CMD, NHPC said that despite the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, NHPC is in an aggressive mode of expansion and has all-India plans to expand its solar and wind power portfolio alongwith its core business of hydropower development. He further added that in the last financial year, NHPC has signed MOUs for execution of 5 projects with total installed capacity of 4134 MW and we are focussed on completing the projects as per schedule.
NHPC has established dialogues with concerned authorities across all levels towards exploring newer avenues for development of Hydropower, Solar and Wind projects. NHPC recently formed a joint venture company, “Ratle Hydroelectric Power Corporation Limited” with Jammu & Kashmir State Power Development Corporation Ltd  for the implementation of 850 MW Ratle Hydroelectric Project. NHPC has also taken over Jal Power Corporation Ltd., for development of 120 MW Rangit Stage-IV Hydroelectric Project in Sikkim.
Ministry of Finance
CGST Bhiwandi Commissionerate arrests Rs. 132cr Fake Invoice racket mastermind
Officers of CGST Bhiwandi Commissionerate in Mumbai Zone have busted a fake invoice racket involving issuance of invoices amounting to Rs132cr and availing/passing on Input Tax credit of Rs23cr. Officers of CGST Bhiwandi Commissionerate arrested one person on 9.09.22 who has been sent to judicial custody till 23.09.22.
Anti-evasion wing of CGST Bhiwandi Commsissionerate was investigating various fake firms namely M/s Mectech Steel Trading Private Limited M/s UGSK Trader, M/s World Enterprises , M/s Rolex Enterprises and M/s HHT Enterprises and M/s Yesh Enterprises wherein various direct and indirect links were established between these firms and the accused.
Based on specific intelligence, anti-evasion wing of CGST Bhiwandi Commissionerate conducted search operation at residential premises of accused who was wanted in 8 of the ongoing investigation cases for his alleged role in GST fraud.
A probe revealed that the accused allegedly created a web of these fake firms, through which they generated fake invoices of Rs132cr and availed/passed on fake ITC of Rs23.16 crore without supplying any goods and services.
Further the accused confessed that he has floated 36 fake GST firms and established a network to pass-on fake Input Tax Credit which is spread across various GST Commissionerate.
Based on material evidence gathered during the investigation, the aforesaid accused mastermind was arrested on 09.09.22 under section 69 of the CGST Act, 2017 for contravention of section 132 of the CGST Act, 2017.
This is a part of special drive launched by the CGST Mumbai Zone against the tax fraudsters and fake ITC networks. This is the 17th arrest by CGST Bhiwandi Commissionerate in last one year.